Do we not teach loyalty to our university students?

Question

This issue with Ahmadinejad shows very little loyalty to our country from Columbia University students or faculty.

With this worldly view being taught are we losing loyalty and honor to our land and to our people?

eeri - then how do the Alumni Associations survive?

Vince - don't you pay the CIA and the FBI millions of dollars annually to "know America's enemies?" Did our government ask you to get involved with foreign policies? Are you overstepping your boundaries? Your Alumni Association survives on LOYALTY.

wisdomdude - I agree with a lot of what you said, but not this time. He openly stated to the world his intentions to blow Israel off the map. He has stated to the world that there was no Holocaust. I know a liar, a weasel and a sly fox when I see one. I've seen enough of this man and I don't want my country showing him any respect. Young soldiers are dying because he wants to move into Iraq and he wants them out.

Answer 1

One difficulty in teaching something like "loyalty" is that it is inherently an abstraction. Thus, its definition is subjective and based on value judgments. As such, these are akin to opinions, which are like sex (gender), in that everyone has one and neither male nor female is right / wrong.

History can show examples of "loyalty" being as ideal and good as it seems you hold the term. And then there are other less sterling examples of "loyalty" being blindly following almost demonic despots wreaking havoc against their enemies.

One of the great trials for citizens of America is to have freedom of speech...and then tolerating freely spoken words that are counter to our personal beliefs, ideals, and opinions. It's a tough row to hoe, but to selectively curb the freedoms undermines the very essence of the word.

Recall the plight of the Americans of Japanese descent in WWII when "relocation" camps were set up for their "protection." In review, there were no cases where any of these Americans were convicted of espionage. They were loyal. Ironically, the US government recruited some of these detainees, sent them into battle where some won Congressional medals of honor AND their parents were still kept in detention.

If we value our system and way of life, then we must tolerate the different points of view and permit open dissent no matter how disagreeable it may be personally to any one of us. There are too many cases of deception in this day and age to risk limiting dissent. There are ample examples where unpopular dissent rankled many citizens, and then decades later, full disclosure reveals our nation was led astray by leaders who were deaf to or tried to silence dissent.

They say that minds are like parachutes in that both work best when open. As much as I love America, I have trouble each time things get close to the line of "my country, right or wrong." The US has not always been right, and I doubt that we will always be wrong...more likely to be somewhere in between. We all live on planet Earth with a number of countries and need to find a better way to get along.

Answer 2

You are very correct in the question that you have ask, and i have conclude that just sitting and watching the world go bye that it starts at home,. we ( this generation) has lost that value a long time ago, and if we can not enforced that daily quality into our daily life's, schools, careers and even in the day to day home life and teach that quailty of life to our children, then we can't expect our universities to do so. This is a very unfortunate comment that I am about to make but we need to have that class taught to us like we do in homeech class, isn't that so sad......

Answer 3

Loyalty? No. No, there are no classes in loyalty. Also, there are no classes in what people think is patriotic and what other people think is merely free speech. Actually, there might be a class in that. But I bet there are plenty of classes in 'why some people have different opinions' and 'patriotic to you don't mean the same thing to me'.

Answer 4

When did "loyalty" become the subject for university curriculum? When did "free speech" become unfashionable in a University setting? That and the free exchange of ideas?

How do exclusionary ideologies promote eduction and understanding?

And, finally, how does "knowing thine enemy" equate with disloyalty?

Answer 5

Very unfortunately you are correct.